Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Yesterday, Gabe and I celebrated 3 years together as Husband and Wife. I love this picture of us on our wedding day. Look at our smiles. We were sure excited to be married. Today I smile way bigger. I am married to the man of my dreams. He makes me happier than I could have ever imagined. Last night he wrote me a letter about all the adventures we've been on and how much he loves me. It took me a while to read it through all my tears... I'm such a baby. Such a sweetheart I married. He makes life fun and exciting. He makes everyday happy. I love being his girl. Happy Anniversary Babe! Yesterday was perfect, I loved reminiscing with you about our fun wedding day. I love you so so much. Can't wait to spend forevers with you!

A couple weeks ago, we made the trek out to Mesa to see the Mesa temple christmas lights with The Blands. We went last year at about the same time and decided this year to keep the tradition going. We started the night out with a little Cafe Rio (the only one in the state) and then hit the temple to see the lights. It was awesome. It had actually been raining all night. We questioned whether or not we should actually drive the 45 minutes out there, but we couldn't mess with tradition. :) It rained the whole time we were driving and the whole time we were at dinner. Then as soon as we got to the temple, it stopped. It was a beautiful night! Well, Gabe was freezing. I on the other hand was perfectly content with my little toaster baby keeping me warm. And... nobody was there. It was awesome. We could take all the pics we wanted without any random eddies in the background. Loved it.

The lights were BEAUTIFUL! Where else can you get a lighted orange tree other than AZ?!

The manger scene with that awesome star.

The classic "red lit" tree

Seriously. How beautiful is the Mesa temple?

Meg and I

And our baby bellies... We've grown a little bit since last year!

Thank you Blands for the fun fun night. I think it was the end of our tradition at the Mesa temple lights. This next year will be a big year for both our little families and will probably take us away from Arizona. But we'll never forget our amazing friends The Blands and our fun dinners and outings! Love you guys!

A look back at our little tradition...

We came in 2009 with Kreig and Brittany Lewis, looking for a house and getting excited to move to Arizona!

Last year in 2010 we came with the Blands. Meg and I were then running buddies, running up to 15 miles on the weekends. Gabe and I were deciding on MBA school.

And this year, 2011 with the Blands. Meg and I, no longer running, just baking little babies in our bellies. And Gabe and I loving our life in Arizona. Looking forward to 2012... Baby Londyn Bell, Graduating, and moving forward with the next steps of life. We're so blessed!

Monday, December 5, 2011

We are so blessed. We had so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. And what an awesome Thanksgiving it was! My parents planned a trip out to Cali to see Wes and Ash and the kids and invited us along for the ride. It was so so so fun to spend the holiday with my fam. Since Wes and I don't live in Utah, we only get to be with the whole fam about once a year. It breaks my heart to know that my little niece and nephew are growing big without me! We usually are in Utah for a family get together so it was such a treat to go on vacation to California. I know for Wes and Ash it is there home town, but my parents splurged and took us all to San Diego to "get away" for a couple of days. We started the trip with a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner at Weston's in-laws. What amazing food! Shauna was so gracious to host everybody.

(P.s.... get ready for picture overload... it was so much easier to just load them on then to put them into collages)

Then we headed to Orange county to spend the night at the Ayres Hotel. It was so nice! And it was so fun to drive through the neighborhood that Gabe and I used to live in and where Wes and Ash live now. Seriously. I forget how BEAUTIFUL it is where we used to live. It was amazing. And my favorite part... with the fresh flowers, the palm trees, and the smell of the ocean so close... it smells like Disney Land. Now who wouldn't want to live there?!

In fron of the Ayers Hotel

The next morning we headed to Weston's house, picked 'em up and drove down to San Diego for the rest of the weekend.

Laur got my best belly pic of the pregnancy so far. :)

We got to San Diego, checked in the Hotel and hit Sea World. It was awesome. I haven't been since I was little and we loved it. It was so fun to be with the kids and watch their faces as the dolphins and whales flipped out of the water. Gabe and I are still talking about how in the world you would even start training a whale.

The cute kiddos and Ash waiting for the whales... In the "splash zone"

Wes, Dad, Gabe and I opted for a "dryer" area.

Then Gabe and my mama took the kids on the twisty "barf-a-rama" ride. I tell ya, this guy is going to be the best dad. He and Colty were best buddies the whole trip.

The crew, (and the other guy to my right...??) waiting for Gabe, Mom, Colty and Hays to finish the ride.

And do I not have the CUTEST niece and nephew on the planet?!!! Ah, it kills me that we don't live close. I can't get enough of these two!

Here is the BEAUTIFUL hotel we checked into. Gabe and I got a "sweet" suite in the tower. The rest of the fam were in the bigger suites down below. Such a fun night. We ordered pizza, watched Elf and gave the kids Christmas presents from Gabe and I. It was so fun to see them open their presents. We're never around to see them open what we get them, I always send. SOOO fun to watch a kid open a present. Brings back the magic of Christmas.

The view from our room.

The next morning we played at the pool. Everyone loved the slides. Colton was a little hesitant until Uncle Gabe rode with him. The whole gang tried it out. And I took the pics ;)

Then after a bit, he braved it by himself!

This is my favorite pic of my dad with his feet... classic.

Laur tried out the paddle boards. It looked so fun. Wish I could have given it a try. Next time... when I'm a little less top heavy.

We spent the rest of the day doing a little shopping and checking out the dental office that my bro works in in La Jolla. This is JUST down the street from his office. Can you believe how beautiful. Yes, I will be getting my teeth drilled here from now on. :)

And one last family pic. Such a fun fun trip. It went by WAY too fast!!! Thank you so so much mamma and dad for the trip. We can't wait to be all together again soon! And we'll add Londyn Bell to the mix! My fam is so awesome. I am so Thankful for them!

Established Dec. 12, 2008

Londyn Belle

Born January 30, 2012

Texas Forever....

A little about us...

Gabriel, Abigail, Londyn Belle & señor Texas

Gabe and I met at the University of Utah and are huge Ute fans! We dated for 9 months, fell in love and were married 12/12/08. We left Snowy Salt Lake City for the sunshine in beautiful Southern California. We love the sun, the beach and the ocean! We added a bulldog to the mix and call him Texas. In 2010 we left the beach for the desert and bought a house in Arizona. In January 2012 we welcomed our beautiful daughter, Londyn Belle. She is our little angel and our ray of sunshine. Gabe is a M.B.A. student at Thunderbird School of Global Management and I am loving staying home with our sweet little girl. I do eyelash extensions on the weekends for our play money. We love our little simple life here in the sunshine.